No 'Export as MP3' button in Audacity 1.3.12-beta (Unicode)

[firehead8866]

Pardon the long Subject title.

Previously I had installed Audacity 1.2.6, and in that version it had the 'Export as MP3' button in the File menu.
But when I uninstalled it and installed the 'latest' version (1.3.12-beta Unicode), it does not have the one-click button for exporting your file in MP3 format.

You can still click 'Export' and chose MP3 from the list of available formats, but you have to put .mp3 at the end of whatever file name you have chosen. Which I find rather tedious when compared with the 1.2.6 version I was using before.

I know 1.3.12-beta Unicode version is still in the beta stage, but does anyone know if they will add the one-click button 'Export as MP3'? Or is the way that it is know, the only way that it will be from now on?

Thanks for taking the time to read this, hopefully it makes some sense enough that you might be able to help.

~firehead8866

[ignatz]

I am using Windows 7 and Audacity 1.3.12.

I occasionally have a very similar problem. Usually (over 90% of the time), Audacity will export a file name such as "John - Test" as "John - Test.mp3", but at times I get an error saying that these types of files usually have an mp3 extension and asking me if I really want to export as is (without the mp3 extension). When that happens, I have to click no, and then manually enter an mp3 extension.

I have no idea why it happens only occasionally.

[steve]

... at times I get an error saying that these types of files usually have an mp3 extension and asking me if I really want to export as is (without the mp3 extension)

That will happen if the file name includes a dot.
For example if you have a file name "badaz-boogie feat. MC Jabber" then Audacity will assume that you want the file extension to be ". MC Jabber" and will pop up the warning "Do you really want to export as is?"
You say "no" and add ".mp3" to the file name and it will export as "badaz-boogie feat. MC Jabber.mp3"

This may not be the only situation that it occurs, but it's the only one that I've come across do date.

[firehead8866]

Thanks ignatz and stevethefiddle.

Thats the problem I was talking about, the only annoying thing is that this latest version (1.3.12-beta) does not have the option (button, call it what you will), in the File menu to just 'Export as MP3', like the older versions did.

Which - added with the need to manually having to add the .mp3 extension - just makes it a longer process.

Do either of you or anyone else know if the 'staff' or programmers behind Audacity plan to put in the File menu, the button I was talking about?

Thanks a bunch.

[ignatz]

Firehead:

I can't recall earlier versions of Audacity and exactly what the choices were. On 1.3.12, I always have a "save as type" dropdown and I can always choose mp3 from that list. I then just poke the "save" button next to the dropdown. I cannot recall a specific "export as MP3" button, but I may have forgotten it from earlier versions.

Steve:

I can verify that the lack of an extension issue happens without dots in the file name.

I never use dots other than immediately before the extension itself, but typically don't have to enter a dot manually.

My consistent naming convention is:

Frank Sinatra - Fly Me To The Moon

Just a space hyphen space separating artist and title. I will very occasionally use parentheses, commas, or semicolons, but never dots. Parentheses, commas, and semicolons do not cause issues.

I cannot find a pattern among cases in which I get the error, but it occurs both when I want mp3 and when I want WAV. I'd say it is perhaps 1 case in 20 or 1 case in 40?

I just re-enter the export file name as Frank Sinatra - Fly Me To The Moon.mp3 and it proceeds without error.

[kozikowski]

At the risk of performing my broken record act*, the only unconditionally safe characters in file names are upper and lower case letters, numbers, dash, and underscore. All other characters are either forbidden outright or carry additional meanings and significance further than what you think they do.

"This always used to work," doesn't hold any water. When Macs went from OS-9 to OS-X, several printable and formerly safe characters quietly became forbidden in file names and they've been causing trouble ever since.

The best problems are where the forbidden character causes occasional trouble. That's when your computer develops a personality. "Sometimes she just doesn't feel like saving files." More like your poor choice of characters sometimes conflicts with the operating system and sometimes it doesn't.

Koz

*I guess that would be a "skipping CD act" now, wouldn't it?

[steve]

Do either of you or anyone else know if the 'staff' or programmers behind Audacity plan to put in the File menu, the button I was talking about?

No, there are no plans to do so as far as I'm aware.

The "sometimes need to add .mp3" problem should not be happening (and I can't get it to happen other than when using a dot in the file name, but then I'm not on Windows and I always restrict file names to the characters a-z A-Z 0-9 hyphen space underscore).

If you find the problem happening when using only these characters, please make a note of the exact file name, the directory that you are trying to Save/Export to, exactly what you are doing (save/export/export multiple), whether you have any labels in the project (do they have any non-alphanumeric characters?) the EXACT error message, and any other details that you can think of, and post the details here.

Regarding the buttons - if you usually uses MP3 exports, then MP3 should already be selected. If you usually use WAV export, then WAV should already be selected.
If you regularly switch from WAV to MP3, then on Audacity 1.3.12 it is just a matter of pressing "File > Export > Format button" rather than "File > Export as WAV" or "File > Export as MP3" as it was in the old 1.2.6 version. (Agreed, 1.2.6 is one less button press when switching from MP3 to WAV or WAV to MP3).
If you want to save as FLAC, then in Audacity 1.3.12 it is still "File > Export > Format button", whereas in 1.2.6 it was "Edit menu > Preferences > File Formats > Change Uncompressed Format", and then "File menu > Export as FLAC". To change back from FLAC to WAV required going through the whole process again with "Edit menu > Preferences > File Formats > Change Uncompressed Format > WAV".

If you have FFMpeg installed, Audacity 1.3.12 now supports dozens of file formats - it would be impractical to have a separate menu item in the File menu for each of them, and the alternative of having to dig around in preferences every time you want to select a non-listed format is extremely inconvenient.

A similar issue occurs for people that wish to regularly change the MP3 compression settings. On the old 1.2.6 version it was necessary to go into "Edit menu > Preferences > File Formats" and change the settings. In Audacity 1.3.12 the compression settings are accessed by clicking on the "Options" button in the Export dialogue.

Overall, the new Export dialogue wins out massively in terms of usability over the old method, though I agree it does loose out by two mouse clicks in the one specific instance of switching from WAV to MP3 (providing that you want the same MP3 settings as the last time that you used it).

[avery]

I have Windows XP and have spent most of the day trying to save my files as MP3s after successfully recording and editing them. 'Lame' is right there in my computer but 'can't be found'. I've followed all the instructions religiously but nothing works. Half the time I'm told to 'select' an option which just isn't on the menu. e.g Edit- Preferences. 'Searching' for Lame refuses to find it. File Export offers no options at all.
I've dowloaded the latest version three times but NOTHING!!! Lame seems a good description of this programme.
I'm ready to scream.
I'm not computer savvy (I'm 69) so jargon doesn't mean anything to me.Can anyone help in plain English?
PLEASE!!!!

[ignatz]

Open Audacity.

Go to edit menu

scroll down to preferences and poke it.

choose libraries and you should see a window like below.

You see two "locate" buttons. Poke the top one (next to mp3 library) and tell us EXACTLY what is shown in the little window that pops open, if anything.

[steve]

I've followed all the instructions religiously but nothing works.

Try these instructions - this method generally works when other methods fail: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 34&p=81604